The Burning Word: Encounters with Jewish Midrash

To students of the Bible who seek conformity in interpreting the scriptures, the literary device known as "midrash" must seem a bit odd. Midrash involves finding a puzzling text, suggesting a resolution to the problem and then "find[ing] someone to argue it or expand it." It is an important part of the Jewish textual tradition, producing many volumes containing the thoughts of sages and rabbis. This method, of course, counters the trend of catechistic scripture study where every question requires a single, approved answer. The author, whose background is in literature rather than religion, was raised in a strict evangelical Christian tradition in which a midrashic reading of the Bible would be counterintuitive. However, she is also a published poet with a graduate degree in creative writing from Sarah Lawrence College. Much of this book is anecdotal, reflecting somewhat her transition from evangelicalism to Catholicism, and reflective of her personal quest for understanding. While she attempts to generalize this struggle, offering readers occasional helps for personal practice, her book is more a chronicle of her individual search for her own reflection in the holy text. As such, it lacks the intellectual rigor one might expect in such a primer. (Apr.)